Sisters quilt show. Pros and cons please. Camping nearby?
 

We are vacationing in Oregon. Should we visit the show? Was it worth it? I’m afraid it might be frustrating trying to do this, with all the traffic. We have bikes, so we could park outside of town and bike in.

Any thoughts?

I've never been, but have read and heard about it a lot, and I would definitely go if I was close by.

Traffic is awful, my husband and I tried to go to the quilt show years ago. Traffic was so bad we turned around and went home, the backup was several miles out of town on Hwy 20 and not in a hurry to move.

How far out of town are you? Maybe you can ride your bike from where your camping? Parking can be tricky, especially on the side of the road. I don't know about parking areas in and around Sisters that allow one to leave their vehicle and head to the show.

There is a shopping complex outside of town the local grocery store, Mickey D's and some small shops, perhaps you can park there.

Please be aware that Eastern Oregon is forest fire country. I picked up and move in 1982. I honked the horn all the way out of town (Lakeview.) I have never wanted to go back.

I used to live in Oregon and went to the show maybe half a dozen times. Since I moved back to California, I still try to go back for Sisters. I went last year and am going again this year. I have never encountered heavy traffic, arriving or leaving the show. But that's because I get to Sisters before 8 in the morning. At that time you can park right in town with no problems, the crowd is smaller, and it is cooler. Usually we've seen most of the show by 2 or 3, so we leave before the crowd. (The show doesn't officially start until 9, but most of the quilts are already hung long before then. The worst that can happen if you arrive early is that you have to watch the firemen up on the ladders hanging the last few quilts. I can live with that. :))

I've been to Sisters quilt show. I stayed near the interstate as I have high altitude breathing problems. Left my motel about 5 or 6 a.m.
Since I got to the quilt show early there was minimal traffic. I was parked close to the show.
I took my meds & had a fun filled day. Left to go back to low altitude when I had seen & done all; lots of traffic still going to Sisters & very little leaving.

I was able to go to Sisters 4 years ago and was so excited. I really never thought I would be able to see it. We live in Nebraska and drove our motorhome. Stayed in a campground near Bend, then drove our car to Sisters. If you look online, there is information about where to park when you get to Sisters, including a shuttle from parking at the high school. As others have said, the earlier in the day you go, the better. But we didn't get there until mid-morning and still found a place to park on a neighborhood street, walked to the downtown area. The thing is, it became extremely crowded as the day went on. Even hard to walk on the sidewalks. We did need to eat lunch and just ate at any place we could fit into. Also, it was very hot, much hotter than I expected after reading about the area. Overall- it was well worth any of the inconveniences, to me. Such a sight to see all of the quilts displayed outside. Probably depends on your tolerance for big crowds and heat. We went on to travel the coast of Oregon and we rate it as probably our favorite trip.

I went once and have no desire to go back. It's very very hot. It's dusty. It's crowded. The town has only about 1800-2000 residents, and there aren't a lot of places to sit, rest, get something cold to drink, and the few restaurants were slammed. 95% of the quilts hang on the outside of buildings and over fences. The quilt store was standing room only and I never was able to move around enough to see what the shop offered. I went with several quilting friends and most of us quickly became hot, tired, cranky, and miserable. We ended up cutting our trip short.

I have only been once and had a great time! Driving in - traffic was bad and we worried it would be too crowded. But it wasn’t. It was perfect. This year has both Jenny Doan and Rob Appel. Will be an awesome event to attend!

I read this with interest as I am going this year and am very excited to be doing so. I am going on a bus, so won't have to worry about parking, but I know to expect big crowds now :-)

I went the year it was 105 - we had no trouble parking but a friend of mine came from Portland by bus. I think if I were to do it again - that is what I would do - look for a bus in and out. We did arrive early. And I would also take food with me. They are right, the restaurants are busy because it is a small town and for some reason do no bring in food trucks. (Or at least they did not the year I attended.)
There are over 1000 quilts hung from first and second story railings - so you might want to bring some small binoculars too. I thought it was well worth it - we stayed in a nice hotel in Bend and made a big weekend of it. (The show is only one day.)

Sisters is a unique experience. Research where you are going. It's a small town. Quilts are displayed on the outside of buildings in downtown area. It is beautiful and well worth the trip. There are also some great quilt shops in nearby Redmond and Bend. It's very easy to spend a week end shopping.

Be sure to eat at Takoda's restaurant at the edge of town. It isn't the restaurant in the middle of town. There is ample parking and good food there.

2 yrs ago, I went on a 1 wk bus trip with guild. The temp was below 80, overcast, nice wind. Since it's upper dessert, it's more likely to be be very hot, dry, dusty. We went to the store on Friday. Stayed in Bend. Returned on Saturday before 8:00am. For lunch, I purchased a sandwich from a restaurant at 11:00am and got a snack in the pm.

It was worth it, but I'm not planning to attend this time.

I suggest you take: hat, water, sun glasses, sun screen, very comfortable shoes, fan, shopping bag.

We went last year. We stayed in Sisters. Motel was a little pricey but worth it. Saw the quilt store on Friday evening so it was busy but had room to walk around. Lots of groups selling food for fund raisers and a lot of chairs sitting outside shops. The morning was nice but it got hot in the afternoon. I got the impression that they have classes during the week, but never saw any literature on it. I would go again if the opportunity comes again.

Thanks ladies. Your advice is invaluable. With all your advice, We’ve decided to go. We’ll camp as close as we can, get up at 6 and drive in. We come equipped with cooler and stove so we won’t have to eat out. I won’t even try for the quilt store. We’ll leaveas close to noon as we can and slip off to another campsite.

My DH is now thinking of this as a financial opportunity, pedicab, renting chairs, selling water 🤗

I am going on a Bus with our guild. 5 day trip, stopping at different quilt shops on the way, 2 night in motels and 2 nights in the college dorms near Sisters. We have also ordered prepared sack lunches,so we don't have to waste time standing in line for lunch...So Excited!!

I went 3 years ago with a friend that lives near Eugene OR (I am in AL) on a bus full of ladies. We had an awesome time. Some traffic but not terrible. Bus stopped about 1/2 way and we got snacks there (advise eat when you can) and there were lots of burned acres from recent fires. The bus dropped us off very close in to town, picked us up about 2pm for the trip back. It was all I could do (heat, tired, too much walking in short time) to get back to the bus! I wished we had driven so we could have taken our time and not been rushed, but truthfully I was beat! I was happy to not have to drive home and also glad they made me leave, i would have passed out if I stayed longer. I was very impressed with the show, loved the displays and the quilts were awesome. Been to many "local" shows, OR, FL, GA, CA and AL, and it sure topped them all. It is during row by row time frame, and I was able to get into the quilt shop and get the pattern and license plate, but it was crowded. My advise, again, eat where you get the chance. We met up with some friends from CA and waited over an hour to get into a restaurant, then took over an hour to get served and eat. Time wasted as far as being out of commission to walk and see the quilts (loved seeing the friends tho) so I would have packed a sack lunch. I think vendor trucks would be an awesome idea, don't know it they are allowed, but I would think that would be a great business opportunity! It was fun and I would go again. If I didn't take a bus, I would try to go the day before and walk the town and shops, then stay the night and see the show. Several friends have done that and they loved it.